Monday, November 28, 2011

grateful for fog and things

San Francisco for Thanksgiving. We woke up, all huddled together, studying the fog outside. At home we rarely experience fog. I absolutely love the humidity after living in the desert for 9 years. My skin starts loving the extra moisture around Sacramento and by the time we hit the Bay Bridge, I feel like I'm getting a facial!

Lately I've been reading in The Heart of Learning about expansion and contraction. Here's a little excerpt:

"Expansion and contraction are primal forces that influence every aspect of life. They are visible in the cycle of the year, the rhythm of the day and night, and the phases of the moon. They can be seen in the growth of the plants and the instinctive activity of wild animals. We can observe their operation several times within the span of a minute, or watch them move gradually over the course of a lifetime."

"Learning how to work with these powerful opposing forces is important for every parent. If we are to work effectively with our children, we must be able to understand and encompass both these polarities."

So, you see these ideas of contracting and expanding are powerful and necessary parts to rhythm that we should understand with regard to our children. I've been spending most of my time thinking about this idea and it's been pretty eye opening. I've been able to solve conflicts with my children just by feeling where they are and where I can direct them to. Simply put, we either are too expanded or too much in our head and need to work toward the opposite polarity. Pretty cool parenting tool!

Change has always been hard for me since I'm a very sensitive person. I have to remember this during this transitional time between summer and winter (which I believe is contracting but let me know if I'm wrong!).

Back to Thanksgiving though. We had a great time. We spent time with family. We ate some delicious food. That's all that matters right? Oh yeah, and we also took Zephyr for his first walk on the beach. We played games like dominoes with tape cases and this fun game.

I hope you had a wonderful holiday weekend! I'm grateful for so many things. It's humbling. xo

6 comments:

What stunning photos! I am so glad you had such a nice time. I'm a bit blown away by what you've shared here and look forward to giving it some more thought. (My 20 minute "lunch hour" isn't enough time to do it justice!) Awesome!

that looks like a real vacation you snuck in there. i love the pic of you all in the mirror. i loved this whole post. i want to read that book. on the plane ride back to boulder last saturday, i looked in my computer bag, and i had the article you mailed me last year, on women setting boundaries. from goop? i read the whole thing again. it was so good. the expansion contraction awareness is a great tool. i've had therapists guide me through it before, but it never really stuck. i'm glad you just brought it back into my field. thanks you! you go get iphone now!

Love the picture of your kids on the beach. And all that food is gorgeous!We're going to the Bay Area in 3 weeks and I love the humidity there. Love what it does to my skin and hair and lungs. Ahhhhh.Also, the expanding and contracting is such an interesting concept to bring awareness to. I think this season is definitely contracting, so much inside time, reflective time, sleeping time. It's a relief actually to contract after such an open, expansive season of summer.

zephyr handmade

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Hello and welcome! I am a homeschooling mom to my three kids. I'm an eclectic homeschooler, unschooling, waldorfy but we do some organized classes. We love to be outside hiking the high desert of Nevada or just playing in our backyard. Every day is an adventure. We are especially passionate about the environment and simple living. This is a place for me to express my love of gluten-free cooking, knitting, organic gardening and raising our small flock of chickens.